You wouldn’t know it to meet her now, but she was a nerd. One of the high-school-really-isn’t-that-wonderful-for-me kind of nerds. She had her friends and the classes she was so good at, but she didn’t love it. She always had the feeling she’d love college. And she still does.
Some of us grew up in homes where college was sort of something you dreamed about. But in Cassandra’s home, college was an assumption. Her father was a physician, and the question was not whether she would go to college, but where she would go and what subject she would pursue.
On the morning that they were to move her into the dorm for her first year at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she had the van packed with everything and was ready to go before anyone was even up. She was ready. And college did not disappoint. She fit in better there than she ever had before. She joined a sorority, found classes that were interesting to her and she felt challenged and purposeful. In 1992, she received her degree in psychology, though she was not sure what she would do with that after graduation.
As many of us did at one point or another, she moved to another city (Milwaukee) to follow a guy, and enrolled in a teaching certification program for special education. It took two years to finish and she was immediately hired as a special ed teacher at the elementary level. These were the years when inclusion was becoming popular. Trying to integrate special needs students into regular classrooms was a challenge when it hadn’t been done much before.
Before long, she decided that a little warmth and sun might be nice and so moved to Arizona where she continued to teach special ed. Interestingly, the teaching certificate she’d earned in Wisconsin ended up transferring to Arizona as a regular certification (state difference in education degrees is a big thing to keep in mind for any of you considering pursuing an education degree while you are here). So a few years later she began teaching in a regular classroom – third grade – which turned out to be her favorite.
There were a couple of rough years in there where her personal life sometimes felt like it was overwhelming her professional world. She remembers a few days sitting on the floor of her classroom crying before her students came in. She wonders sometimes how in the world she taught them anything. Everyone has personal issues that affect their work life occasionally, but when your work is the education and growth and self-esteem development of young children, things seem so much more critical.
The more I talked to Cassandra the more I found her to be, very simply, a learner. Someone who thrives off of the opportunities to learn and study and research into new ideas and topics that peak her interest. And so as she daily imparted knowledge to those little people, she often found her mind wandering back to the question of her own education. She’d always wanted to get a doctoral degree one day, but that seemed like a far off dream. So she decided to just take the first step.
She enrolled in a Master’s of Education program through Northern Arizona University. She had spent a lot of time looking into all of the different options – and they are dizzying! Online programs, commuting courses, local college classes… the various programs seemed unending. And she began to see how different this was than being a teenager in high school or college. There aren’t parents suggesting where you go or paying for your education or helping with all the paperwork. It’s really something you have to go for yourself. Be assertive. Ask questions. And if you don’t like or understand the answer, ask again.
She was drawn to the NAU program because it was a pilot program taught in her local area for other teachers from her school district. It was nice to be able to meet with other professionals who were doing the same kind of work as she was. She completed the first year of that program and then….
On Mother’s Day, 2001, she had agreed to play golf (which she maintains she’s not very good at) with a couple friends. One friend brought someone new. And he was such a good golfer that she decided to marry him a year later. (Well, I’m sure there were more reasons than that!)
And he had a bit of an adventurous spirit. Something she may have had buried in her as well. So they decided she would apply to the DoDDs system in hopes of being picked up at a school somewhere outside of the U.S. The process took so long that she wasn’t offered a job until the middle of the next summer and had to ask to be released from her stateside job.
They packed up and were on a flight to Okinawa before they could catch their breaths. She wasn’t even given information on her teaching position until the day before school started – sixth grade, language arts – definitely not her first choice, but she was IN THE SYSTEM – and that had been the dream.
The following summer, in true learner-form, she took some additional training that focused on multi-grade education. She and a few other teachers were so excited about it that they begged their principle to allow them to start several 1st-3rd grade combo classrooms. The principal agreed and for 3 years she truly enjoyed working with other teachers who were determined to encourage each other and strive to be successful with their multi-age classrooms.
During that time, the options for graduate school continued to pop up. And email here, a school representative there. She was always drawn to this. To further education and learning. But it didn’t seem right until January of 2004, when she received an email from a fellow teacher hoping for a cohort to join her in doing a Master’s degree with Walden University. The created a group that met once a week to study. They didn’t have face-to-face classes with instructors, instead their classes were DVDs of well-known people in the particular field of study. Because of the difficulty of transferring classes from her NAU program, she just decided to start over with Walden. She finished her Master’s in August of 2005.
A year later, an opportunity arose for her to delve further into something she was feeling drawn to… teaching and supporting other teachers. She became the literacy coach at her school – not coaching students, but coaching teachers. Helping them with new teaching strategies, personal development, leading inservices and offering after school classes that teachers could take. The more she did it, the more she loved it and knew that this was the area of teaching she wanted to pursue.
She has always loved teaching kids, but found herself again and again drawn to the idea of encouraging and helping teachers be the best they can be. Her experience working with the mulit-age team had shown her how valuable other teachers can be to improving your own skills. Teaching can sometimes be isolating, but working within a team structure had shown her what strength there can be in receiving help and guidance from other talented teachers.
But not surprisingly, for Cassandra, that meant she needed more study. More school. In order to be the best help to other teachers, she knew she wanted to learn more and acquire more knowledge about successful teaching. And most importantly, she explains, the opportunity arose for her to stop working.
She doesn’t know if she would have attempted a Ph.D. if she’d been working full time. A lot of people do. In fact, as she checked into various programs she found that many are geared towards the full-time worker.
But Cassandra admitted to me that she’s a BIT of a perfectionist. For her it is important to be excellent at her work, a great mom and the perfect student. She wasn’t sure she could juggle all three of those roles. So when it became possible to just focus on two, she jumped at the chance.
After months of looking at different universities, finding one that fit her personality and was well-accredited, she started her doctoral degree with North Central University about a year ago. She’s learned a lot about pacing herself and spreading out her study time. And she is really enjoying her class work, though sometimes it sounds a little lonely as she chose a program that does not have the class discussion component that many universities utilize.
I asked what suggestions she had for anyone choosing to pursue a graduate program from Okinawa. First, she mentioned knowing your own personality. If you choose an online program, you have to have a lot of internal motivation. If you are someone who puts off studying until the last moment, that’s a problem online because there is no professor to see once or twice a week who could help keep you on target. There are so many universities on island for people who would fit better with a classroom-based program.
But, if there is no program here that you would like to take or if you’ve decided you’d prefer online study, then when choosing, be sure to choose an accredited school that is known within the field you are shooting for. Also, you’ll want to pick a school in a state that will provide you with the final degree/certificate that will work for you (meaning that a teaching certificate in Minnesota may not work for you if you're planning to move to Oregon).
Cassandra is so thankful that life on Okinawa has placed her in a position to be able to follow a life-long dream of completing her Ph.D. She thinks things have come together perfectly for her here -- and that is a pretty fantastic blessing!
Cassandra, it’s so interesting to follow the story of your pursuit of learning and teaching. I identify with it in so many ways. It’s a lifelong process and happy that you have found opportunities here to continue on. Good luck with your PhD. Good for you! Thanks so much for sharing.
Cassandra is one amazing and beautiful woman. ROCK ON!
I forgot GENEROUS with her time and with spirit!
Kudos to Cassandra for having the motivation and discipline to get the degree she’s always wanted. Its more then difficult being a mom in Okinawa (with very little family support nearby) to attain these goals. You are in inspiration to all of us. And let’s not forget that she’s also a really good cook!
Lovely post about a lovely person. I feel lucky to have her as a friend!